Sheldon ShealerTOP STORY: The powerful CIF-Southern Section took a few knocks last week as Carlsbad, from the San Diego Section, and Bellarmine Prep, from the North Coast Section, won titles at the Southern California High School Classic, which featured several ranked Southern Section programs. In addition, perennial Southern Section power Paramount lost in Arizona to fellow nationally ranked Brophy Prep (Ariz.).
BIG MOVER: California (San Ramon, Calif.). As everyone else loses, Cal High continues to leap higher. The team’s undefeated record has this squad in the top 20, but several big tests remain.
NEWCOMERS: No. 28 Escondido (Escondido, Calif.), No. 40 El Toro (Lake Forest, Calif.), No. 41 Ramona (Ramona, Calif.), No. 47 Monte Vista (Danville, Calif.), No. 48 Gulliver Prep (Miami, Fla.), No. 49 Mililani (Mililani, Hawaii) and No. 50 Kapolei (Kapolei, Hawaii).
NOTES: The winter season includes the following states: Arizona, California (winter), Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Rankings through matches played as of Dec. 30, 2012
| Rk. | School (City, State) | Record | Prev. |
| 1 | Boca Raton (Boca Raton, Fla.) | 18-0-0 | 1 |
| Boca Raton is idle until Jan. 10 when it competes in the MAST at Montverde Academy. | |||
| 2 | Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) | 20-0-1 | 2 |
| Montverde Academy is idle until it plays host to the MAST, which features four of the nation’s top 10-ranked teams. | |||
| 3 | Brophy Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.) | 12-0-0 | 3 |
| Brophy Prep’s perfect season continued with a 1-0 win over Paramount (Calif.) in the Arizona Showcase quarterfinals. The team was scheduled to play the semifinals and possibly the final on Monday. | |||
| 4 | Alief Elsik (Houston, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 4 |
| Alief Elsik starts regular-season play in January. | |||
| 5 | Sharyland (Mission, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 5 |
| Sharyland starts regular-season play in January. | |||
| 6 | Carlsbad (Carlsbad, Calif.) | 12-0-1 | 10 |
| Carlsbad defeated Millikan on penalty kicks to claim its division title at the Southern California High School Classic, presented by Nike. | |||
| 7 | Coppell (Coppell, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 6 |
| Coppell’s season opens Jan. 10 at the MAST in Montverde, Fla. | |||
| 8 | McKinney Boyd (McKinney, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 7 |
| Boyd starts regular-season play in January. | |||
| 9 | Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 8 |
| Marcus starts regular-season play in January. | |||
| 10 | Plano (Plano, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 9 |
| Plano starts regular-season play in January. | |||
| 11 | San Clemente (San Clemente, Calif.) | 15-1-1 | 12 |
| San Clemente and No. 3 Brophy Prep (Ariz.) were scheduled to squad off in the Arizona Showcase semifinals Monday, with the winner advancing to the final. Those results will not factor until next week’s national rankings. | |||
| 12 | Watsonville (Watsonville, Calif.) | 5-0-1 | 13 |
| Watsonville was idle last week. | |||
| 13 | Buchholz (Gainesville, Fla.) | 8-0-2 | 17 |
| While most of Florida’s teams are winding up regular-season play with only a few matches remaining, Buchholz has a run of seven contests in 15 days starting Jan. 4 against Nease. | |||
| 14 | Klein (Klein, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 18 |
| Klein starts regular-season play in January. | |||
| 15 | Alisal (Salinas, Calif.) | 8-0-1 | 20 |
| Alisal was idle last week. The team’s first major contest, as far as national rankings are concerned, is Jan. 17 against Watsonville. | |||
| 16 | California (San Ramon, Calif.) | 11-0-2 | 39 |
| California, despite not playing last week, made a major jump through a combination of other programs losing and teams it beat faring well at various holiday events. | |||
| 17 | Bellarmine College Prep (San Jose, Calif.) | 5-2-1 | 24 |
| Despite a group loss to St. Augustine, Bellarmine College Prep rallied to win the Southern California High School Classic Showcase-West bracket, which featured 10 teams that have appeared in the ESR Top 50 or state rankings this season. In the final, the Bells defeated La Costa Canyon 3-0. | |||
| 18 | St. Augustine (San Diego, Calif.) | 8-1-1 | 22 |
| St. Augustine’s group win over Bellarmine looked like the result that could move this team way up in the rankings, however, the team stumbled in the knockout phase, losing to La Costa Canyon, which Bellarmine easily beat in the final. | |||
| 19 | El Rancho (Pico Rivera, Calif.) | 12-1-0 | 11 |
| El Rancho was bumped from the undefeateds by Anaheim, yet a season with two wins over ESR Top 50 teams, including No. 21 Loyola, keeps the squad in the Top 25 for another week. | |||
| 20 | Paramount (Paramount, Calif.) | 6-3-2 | 25 |
| Paramount went 3-0 in group play at the Arizona Showcase before losing 1-0 to Brophy Prep (Ariz.) in a quarterfinal match between two of the nation’s strongest teams. | |||
| 21 | Loyola (Los Angeles, Calif.) | 11-2-2 | 26 |
| Loyola won in penalty kicks over Edison to claim the Trabuco Hills Tournament title over the weekend. | |||
| 22 | Ventura (Ventura, Calif.) | 14-1-1 | 28 |
| Ventura’s only loss this season is a setback to Loyola. | |||
| 23 | Fleming Island (Fleming Island, Fla.) | 13-1-0 | 29 |
| Fleming Island is idle until Jan. 10, when it faces Yulee. | |||
| 24 | Lafayette (Lafayette, La.) | 11-1-2 | 30 |
| Lafayette’s title at the Louisiana Showcase earned this squad a state No. 1 ranking, and now a spot in the ESR Top 25. | |||
| 25 | Brother Martin (New Orleans, La.) | 14-1-0 | 31 |
| Brother Martin’s only loss this year is at the Louisiana Showcase. | |||
| 26 | Crescenta Valley (La Crescenta, Calif.) | 10-1-3 | 43 |
| 27 | Godinez (Santa Ana, Calif.) | 6-0-1 | 47 |
| 28 | Escondido (Escondido, Calif.) | 9-0-3 | NR |
| 29 | American Heritage-Delray (Delray Beach, Fla.) | 15-2-2 | 32 |
| 30 | St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) | 8-1-2 | 33 |
| 31 | Salpointe Catholic (Tucson, Ariz.) | 15-2-0 | 34 |
| 32 | Jesuit College Prep (Dallas, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 36 |
| 33 | Westlake (Austin, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 37 |
| 34 | Cypress Bay (Weston, Fla.) | 8-1-3 | 38 |
| 35 | McNeil (Austin, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 40 |
| 36 | Rivera (Brownsville, Texas) | 0-0-0 | 41 |
| 37 | Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) | 13-1-0 | 42 |
| 38 | Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.) | 13-1-2 | 49 |
| 39 | Berkeley (Berkeley, Calif.) | 8-1-3 | 50 |
| 40 | El Toro (Lake Forest, Calif.) | 16-1-0 | NR |
| 41 | Ramona (Ramona, Calif.) | 11-1-1 | NR |
| 42 | Sunny Hills (Fullerton, Calif.) | 11-1-0 | 16 |
| 43 | Wilson (Long Beach, Calif.) | 5-1-4 | 14 |
| 44 | Jesuit (New Orleans, La.) | 13-3-3 | 44 |
| 45 | Madison Central (Madison, Miss.) | 11-1-2 | 45 |
| 46 | Ocean Springs (Ocean Springs, Miss.) | 12-1-1 | 48 |
| 47 | Monte Vista (Danville, Calif.) | 7-1-4 | NR |
| 48 | Gulliver Prep (Miami, Fla.) | 9-1-2 | NR |
| 49 | Mililani (Mililani, Hawaii) | 5-0-1 | NR |
| 50 | Kapolei (Kapolei, Hawaii) | 5-0-1 | NR |
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